The Associated Press (AP) filed a lawsuit against three Trump administration officials after the news media outlet received limited access to cover the Oval Office, Air Force One, and other presidential events after it refused to use “Gulf of America” in its writing style.
In a lawsuit filed against White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich, and White House Chief of Staff Susan Wiles, the AP argued that the ban from the Trump administration “violates the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution” and that it violated “the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”
“The White House as ordered The Associated Press to use certain words in its coverage or else face an indefinite denial of access,” the complaint from the news outlet said. “The press and all people in the United States have the right to choose their own words and not be retaliated against by the government. The Constitution does not allow the government to control speech. Allowing such government control and retaliation to stand is a threat to every American’s freedom.”
In the complaint, the AP notes:
The ban violates the Due Processes Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. As the D.C. Circuit has made clear, journalists’ “first amendment interest” in access to the White House “undoubtedly qualifies as liberty which may not be denied without due process of law under the fifth amendment.” Sherrill v. Knight, 569 F.2d 124, 130-131 (D.C. Cir. 1977). Defendants gave the AP no prior or written notice off, and no formal opportunity to challenge, their arbitrary determination that the AP would indefinitely lose access to the Oval Office, Air Force One, and other limited areas as a member of the press pool – as well as access to large locations open to a wider group of journalists and reporters with White House press credentials – unless the AP adopted the Administration’s preferred language in its reporting.
The ban also violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The D.C. Circuit has made clear that denying journalists access to White House press events “based upon the content of the journalist’s speech” is “prohibited under the first amendment.” Sherrill, 569 F.2d at 129. Having opened the White House and certain areas to the press, the First Amendment “requires that this access not be denied arbitrarily or for less than compelling reasons.” Ateba v. Jean-Pierre, 706 F. Supp. 3d 63, 75-76 (D.D.C. 2023) (quoting Sherrill, 569 F.2d at 129) (emphasis in original,) appeal argued, No. 24-5004 (D.C. Cir. Oct 15, 2024). Defendants have not provided, nor could they provide, any compelling reason for their arbitrary denial of the AP’s access. Rather, Defendants’ actions are impermissibly based on their dislike of the content of the AP’s expression and what they perceive as the AP’s viewpoint reflected in the content of its expression. The White House ban of the AP also constitutes impermissible retaliation, as it was instituted to punish the AP for its constitutionally protected speech in ways that would chill the speech of a reasonable person of ordinary firmness.
While attending the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Leavitt reportedly revealed that she “learned” that she had “been sued by the Associated Press,” adding that she would “see them in court,” according to the Hill.
As Breitbart News previously reported, the AP refused to refer to the Gulf of America, by the new name, and opted instead to continue calling it the “Gulf of Mexico.” The decision came though the news outlet had “previously changed its style guide to conform to the renaming of other geographical locations and ethnicities around the world.”
In the AP’s complaint, the news outlet explains that because it is “a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable”:
The White House’s actions were taken in response to an editorial decision by the AP to refer to the Gulf of Mexico “by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.” The AP explained in its AP Stylebook, which embodies the AP’s editorial standards, that, “[a]s a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences.”
In a statement to its wire customers, the AP explained that they were “taking this action on behalf of all independent global media organizations.”
“As you may be aware, The Associated Press has filed a lawsuit today in the U.S. to defend our independence from government control in what we can say and report,” the news outlet explained. “We are taking this action on behalf of all independent global media organizations and people who have the freedom of speech.”